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saturn wrote:

Thanks for the info guys. I'm still looking for the right one. As for Sparkle, I seem to recall them haveing a few cheap PSU's aways back.
As for CORSAIR, I don't give them my money, it's a long story amd I don't want to get into it. I know may pepole love their stuff and all...

Maybe I could get a 5v PSU that runs of 12v and put it in the 5 1/4 bay? Thats a thought. I could power it buy the Pcie cables.

No. Fortron and Sparkle merged a while back so people get confused.
Sparkle is server grade or higher end OEM. It's only the last few years they've been offered retail.
FSP covers the whole range and, though many are great, a fair number are crap too so you have to research them.
Sparkle built model numbers begin with SPI and Fortron built begin with FSP. The model number is the REAL way to tell the difference.
It is not usual though to see one branded as one but the model number (actual builder) is the other.
(So if the ad says Sparkle but the model number begins with FSP it's not really a Sparkle.)
They are not helping themselves by doing that.
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The Corsair TX series (original version, not V2) has been good to me. Used lots of them over the years. Trust them.
One reason I like them is they have a single 12v rail so balancing 12v load is a non-issue.
I have not tried other Corsairs so I can't say about those.
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alexanrs wrote:

PCBONEZ wrote:

I've actually thought about building something like this to convert some of the excess 12v to 5v. I would use schottky diodes to […]
Show full quote

alexanrs wrote:

One thing the OP can try to alleviate this issue, if the motherboard allows, is undervolting. This might lower the processor's power draw a bit and give the PSU more breathing room.

I've actually thought about building something like this to convert some of the excess 12v to 5v. I would use schottky diodes to prevent a ground loop and to ensure the 5v from the PSU dips low before this kicks in to boost it, and of course need some filtering to take care of noise.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400801183658
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I've seen some packaged to fit into drive bays but those were WAY too expensive for me.
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That is a very interesting idea, actually. Having a little device that transfers some of the load to the 12V rails would make building retro Athlon systems much easier. What I meant, though, was undervolting the processor itself, providing it 1.7V or 1.65V instead of the 1.75V it asks for, thus lowering its power consumption.

I knew what you meant.
Was just throwing out an idea I toyed around with a while back.

saturn wrote:

Maybe I could get a 5v PSU that runs of 12v and put it in the 5 1/4 bay? Thats a thought. I could power it buy the Pcie cables.

That's exactly what the my post just before is only it's not mounted in anything.

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saturn wrote:

No I will not trust or use a single Corsair product much the same that I will not trust a single evga warranty. I had very bad luck with Corsair as a company and evga has never once honored their warranty for me, heck I bought 2 295's from them (off their website) and they sent me a bad card and would not even take it back. Apparently if you call one of their sponsored reviewers out on his nonsense with gaming headphones you will be band from their forms and all and any of your warranty are null and void...
The nut was a real audiofool, and he was being paid for it too.

When companies try to pull crap like that with me I write their corporate office addressed to the CEO and tell him/her I will be filing a Mail Fraud complaint with the Post Master General.
You bypass all the shitheads that way and it usually works.

I agree about EVGA.
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saturn wrote:

I found a few seasonic PSUs with good 5v and 12v output and 120mm fan. I might nab one up.

Be careful with Seasonic.
The retail versions are fine with Jap caps but the OEM versions often have crap Ch/Tw caps.
That is pretty well talked about on-line so for a change I'm not going to be long winded. 🤣
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FWIW, I'm less afraid these days of inferior cap brands than more fatal issues ini a supply. Caps can be serviced which is not the case with a generally inferior platform, and with Seasonic I have some confidence that they haven't left vital parts out.

gdjacobs wrote:

FWIW, I'm less afraid these days of inferior cap brands than more fatal issues ini a supply. Caps can be serviced which is not the case with a generally inferior platform, and with Seasonic I have some confidence that they haven't left vital parts out.

No. They didn't leave parts out that I know of.
The branded ones would get something like Chemicon and the otherwise identical OEM version got something like OST.
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The OP seems resistant to the idea of recapping a PSU so I thought I would mention it.
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Unfortunately 5V heavy systems leave us in the Aral Sea of options.

That's what I'm saying. Those options are steadily drying up.

What brands of capacitor are installed?

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saturn wrote:

gdjacobs wrote:

What brands of capacitor are installed?

There are a few yellow caps that I have no clue who made them. They have some logo on them with a f in it.

The "F" with the bars above and below is Fujitsu.
Those are good caps. They are Fujitsu Hybrid Polymer. (AKA: FPCAP)
I call those "Bumble Bees" because a bunch together look like a swarm of bees.
They have been around since the 1990's and I think were OSCON's first competitor for Poly technology caps.
IMHO Fujitsu got away with it before OSCON's Patent rights expired because unlike OSCON they were not "Solid" Polymer so there was no clear infringement.
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Fujitsu's trademarked name for them was(is) Functional Polymer. They are still around. They just look different now.
Fujitsu sold that subsidiary (named FPCAP) to Nichicon in 2008. Fujitsu started changing the appearance several years before the sale to what looks like typical Solid Polymer caps with red markings but I don't think the "Bumble Bee" style completely went away until after Nichicon took over.
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Nichicon and FPCAP have pushed the product hard and vastly expanded the product line since 2008 so many more sizes are available now.
For the last several years they have seen a lot of use on motherboards and video cards.
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Hybrid vs Solid:
Hybrid Polymer has polymer on one plate and liquid electrolyte on the other. The liquid is actually more of a paste.
Solid Polymer caps have Polymer at both plates.
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Very early versions of the FPCAPS (before about 2002) sometimes had problems with moisture leaking -IN- causing them to swell.
That was fairly rare. I've only seen a few. Even when it did happen the bloating was very slight and the cap usually tested fine.
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Most people don't even realize Hybrid Polymer caps exist.
Hybrid Polymer performance and reliability is so comparable to Solid Polymer caps that they can be used interchangeably.
In other words in use there is no -practical- -functional- difference between Hybrid and Solid Polymer caps.
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What the modern versions look like. - http://www.mouser.com/new/nichicon/nichiconfpcap/
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